It's been about 8 months since I first downloaded Steam and 2 weeks ago Steam would start to update every time I launched it but it would only take several seconds. However, yesterday and today it would go through the process of downloading and installing a Steam update when launched and it takes about 5 minutes to do so. Do I need to uninstall or refresh Steam or is the recent updates something everyone is getting.

How often do you boot up your Steam client on your computer? About twice a month, or more like twice a day?If you don't use Steam that often (less than twice a month) then updates may stack up and need to install a bunch of times to catch up.

How often do you boot up your Steam client on your computer? About twice a month, or more like twice a day?If you don't use Steam that often (less than twice a month) then updates may stack up and need to install a bunch of times to catch up.

Did you opt in to the Steam beta at any point? Steam doesn't release actual updates that frequently unless you're in the beta. Also, are these updates accompanied by patch notes? If it's just saying it's updating as you open Steam that isn't actually an update, but rather just the Steam client syncing with the Steam servers. If it's an actual software update you'll be presented with a window of the patch notes for that update.

Did you opt in to the Steam beta at any point? Steam doesn't release actual updates that frequently unless you're in the beta. Also, are these updates accompanied by patch notes? If it's just saying it's updating as you open Steam that isn't actually an update, but rather just the Steam client syncing with the Steam servers. If it's an actual software update you'll be presented with a window of the patch notes for that update.

I believe I did opt in for the Steam beta several months ago, I'm not sure and I can't check right now because I'm at work. There also are no patch notes after it updates.

When you opt-in to a Beta, it usually just gives you one Beta update, then kicks you back out.I have found that every time (about a week or two or so) I go back to the Beta opt-in option, it seems to be available and Me not subscribed to it. Seems one needs to continually opt-in.(Maybe I'm thinking of all those Skyrim Betas I kept having to opt-into, though.)

If you have opted into Beta, they made some major changes with the file formats, and the way it updates itself, so you may ending up waiting for two pretty large updates as well as having to reset your "Opt in for beta" option in settings. More information here: http://steamcommunity.com/groups/SteamClientBeta